


it knits together all the same

by clasch



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, LITERALLY, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23778091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clasch/pseuds/clasch
Summary: Dean’s faced a lot of monsters in his day. Countless monsters, really. All manner of horrible, evil things. But as nasty as some of those monsters have been, Dean thinks he’s never faced anything quite as horrible as this goddamn skein of yarn.
Relationships: Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester
Comments: 9
Kudos: 39





	it knits together all the same

Dean’s faced a lot of monsters in his day. Countless monsters, really. All manner of horrible, evil things. But as nasty as some of those monsters have been, Dean thinks he’s never faced anything quite as horrible as this goddamn skein of yarn. He’s got half of it rolled into a ball, which took a frankly embarrassingly long time. But now the rest of the fucking skein is knotted so tightly around itself that Dean can’t even _loosen_ the knots with his fingernails, let alone pick them apart. And his seemingly brilliant idea of fishing the other end of the yarn out of that snarl and starting a new ball from there? Yeah, that made everything worse. Now he’s got one decently-sized ball of yarn (Demon Yarn Ball #1), one tiny one (Demon Yarn Ball #2), and a mess of knots worse than that time Sammy got not one, but _two_ wads of gum stuck in his hair without realizing it and slept that way (Demon Yarn Ball #3).

He isn’t even sure how Charlie talked him into doing this in the first place. Dean can use a needle and thread of course, in the dental-floss-stitches way and the traditional way. He’s patched up his and Sam’s clothes for years, mending tears and hemming and letting things out a few months later when Sam grew yet another four inches. But _this_ is…something else entirely. Dean glares daggers at the snarled mess in his hands, willing it to unravel itself. Or burst into flames.

When it does neither, he sighs and pulls out his phone to call Charlie instead of doing something stupid (but potentially satisfying) like heading to the shooting range and using Demon Yarn Balls 1-3 for target practice.

“What’s up, nerd?” she says brightly after just one ring. “Status report.”

“Charlie,” Dean warns, tossing the stupid fucking thing onto the library table. “I’m _this close_ to doing an exorcism.”

‘That bad, huh?”

“Yeah, that ba – _fuck._ ” Dean can only watch in dismay as the decently-sized ball rolls off the other side of the table. It doesn’t undo _that_ much work, but the most recent bit he actually managed to wrap took nearly an hour. All that for maybe three more inches of unknotted yarn. “How did you talk me into this again?” Dean says, bending to pick up Demon Yarn Ball #1.

“Just think how _happy_ you’ll make him, Dean.”

Okay, so that’s how she talked him into it. And keeps talking him into it, apparently. _It’s the middle of spring,_ he’d argued originally, even as he clicked over to a new tab to look up _yarn,_ for chrissake. _Yeah, but it’s your first time, dude. And just imagine his **face** when you give it to him._

Dean sighs again. “Fine, you win.”

He can hear Charlie’s grin over the phone when she says, “Be gentle with it. Love you.”

And because it’s Charlie, Dean grins too.

***

It turns out Charlie’s right about being gentle with it. What started out as a battle, a fight to the death really, becomes something soft and warm, Dean realizes as the months slip by and the thing takes shape. It’s not a perfect thing, by any means. It’s lumpy and Dean drops a few stitches here and there. But even though the yarn is pinched thin in places from the worst of the snarls, it knits together all the same. Just like him and Benny.

And suddenly it’s November and Dean can’t believe he made this thing with his own two hands. He’s staring at it at the library table, holding it up so he can inspect it from all angles, and he doesn’t hear Benny come in.

“Dean?”

He nearly drops the thing in shock, but catches it and yanks it close to his chest. “Supposed to be for Christmas,” Dean says, heat rushing to his cheeks. He tucks the sleeves back and folds it carefully before casting a glance over his shoulder.

“Is that –“ Benny, ever-confident, surefooted Benny, can’t seem to find the rest of his sentence. He’s just looking at Dean, at the thing Dean has cradled in his arms.

“Yeah,” Dean says, standing then and offering it to Benny. “Yeah, it’s – I made you a sweater.”

Every kiss with Benny is good, grounding. _Loving._ But the one they share in the library with the sweater pressed gently between them becomes Dean’s favorite. It actually fits pretty well, Dean discovers when Benny pulls it on immediately and kisses him again, whispering _je t’aime cher, je l’adore_ into Dean’s mouth. And that kiss becomes his favorite. And the kiss Benny gives him the first time Dean darns the hole Benny wore into the elbow from use becomes his favorite. And after a while, Dean stops picking favorites and learns to just be gentle with it.

**Author's Note:**

> stay safe and just be gentle with it! ♥


End file.
